The same day, write-in candidate Louis Vinagro was charged with threatening a state official trying to inspect his pig farm. Then there is George Resnick, a Republican candidate considered a longshot in this heavily Democratic community.

"I don't want to vote for a pothead," Anthony Esposito, a 77-year-old retiree, said Friday as he entered a restaurant next to Town Hall. "I might vote forthe pig farmer (Vinagro). He isn't a bad person. He gives a lot of money away to charity."

The mayoral race in this town of 27,000 took its odd twist Tuesday, when Macera and his aide, school custodian Alan Iemma, were pulled over.

The mayor said he and Iemma had left a school meeting for some fresh air and drove toward the state dump, where Macera said he frequently goes to inspect complaints about odors. Police said the car Iemma was driving matched the description of one suspected in a series of break-ins so they stopped him.

In court affidavits, police said the inside of the car smelled strongly of marijuana, that Iemma and Macera smelled of the drug and both men had bloodshot, watery eyes.

Iemma was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of marijuana and other counts. He denies the charges. Macera wasn't arrested.

Macera made a brief public statement denying wrongdoing, then hopped a plane for what he said was a long-planned Florida vacation.

Johnston residents are more accustomed to hearing about Vinagro's brushes with the law.

Besides his countless scraps with the state environmental department over his trash recycling business, he has an extensive criminal record, including running pit bull fights and violating hazardous waste laws.